Hinds is a small town in the Mid-Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. It is located on the Canterbury Plains on the south bank of the Hinds River, which reaches the Pacific Ocean between the nearby localities of Longbeach and Lowcliffe. Other localities around Hinds include Ealing to the west, Willowby, Windermere, and Winslow to the northeast, and Eiffelton to the southeast.

The township and the surrounding district are named after the Hinds River. The river in turn was named after the Reverend Samuel Hinds, a member of the Canterbury Association that organised the settlement of Canterbury.

State Highway 1 and the Main South Line railway pass through Hinds. Passenger trains have not regularly operated through Hinds since the cancellation of the daily Southerner service on 10 February 2002, but freight trains run multiple times every day. The town also has a primary school; it dates from 1881 and the original classrooms are still in use. The school's size was boosted in the 1930s when rural schools in Ealing, Maronan, and Lynnford were closed and their students sent to Hinds. There were plans to build a secondary school in Hinds, but these never eventuated and the primary school gained land set aside for the secondary school.

In 2011 with the closure of the rural school in Lowcliffe their students were sent to Hinds.

Hinds is described by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement, and covers 2.18 km (0.84 sq mi). It had an estimated population of 350 as of June 2024, with a population density of 161 people per km. Hinds is part of the Ealing-Lowcliffe statistical area.

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
2006	282	—
2013	300	+0.89%
2018	291	−0.61%
Source:

Hinds had a population of 291 at the 2018 New Zealand census, a decrease of 9 people (−3.0%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 9 people (3.2%) since the 2006 census. There were 114 households, comprising 153 males and 138 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.11 males per female, with 57 people (19.6%) aged under 15 years, 54 (18.6%) aged 15 to 29, 150 (51.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 36 (12.4%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 90.7% European/Pākehā, 14.4% Māori, 2.1% Pasifika, 2.1% Asian, and 1.0% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 55.7% had no religion, 30.9% were Christian, 1.0% had Māori religious beliefs, 2.1% were Hindu, 1.0% were Muslim and 1.0% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 9 (3.8%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 75 (32.1%) people had no formal qualifications. 21 people (9.0%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 129 (55.1%) people were employed full-time, 39 (16.7%) were part-time, and 12 (5.1%) were unemployed.

Hinds School is a full primary school catering for years 1 to 8. It has 159 students as of August 2024. The school opened in 1881.